Slayers, The Toss of Dice
by Vaneral Chisuko
Summary: The Slayers are on Vaction, or at least Lina is, and are enjoying a great meal at a tavern. That is, until a mysterious Elven Bard enters the scene. Then Xelloss appears. Now we all know the destruction of the world is near. Darn!
1. Meetings of Friends!

Chapter One: Meetings of Friends…

Vaneral looked around the city she was in and muttered a curse under her breath. It was a nice and happy city, full of nice and happy people with nice and happy lives during a nice and happy day and…well, it just wasn't a place that a person like Vaneral would like. At when considering what she was.

She ignored that people that stopped in their business to stare at her. She was an elf of distant heritage and few in this land had seen an elf since the last left Mipross. She just wanted to get to a tavern, have few drinks, and listen to any good story she might help gain popularity. If not that, then at least play a few games of chance. She frowned at the thought. Zakainel hated that game…and Vaneral couldn't figure why… Yeah right. She grinned harshly. Yeah, forget the story. I'll get some [people] angry.

She walked strongly with purpose towards the tavern, grinning at her task. Suddenly—CRAAAASH!!! Vaneral yelped in surprise and jumped back. A huge explosion erupted from the nearby bar, causing windows to blow out throwing glass everywhere followed by smoke. 

"What the bloody hell??" She gasped as another explosion promptly followed. 

From inside, a female voice screeched, "YOU GIVE THAT BACK, GOURRY!!!"

Another voice, distinctively male and probably this Gourry cried out, "Not a chance! This is mine, I tell ya!" 

Vaneral raised an eyebrow curiously and stepped into the tavern. She quickly dropped to the ground as another fireball tore overhead. 

"The next'll hit you if you don't give it back!" Vaneral saw that a small red haired girl was causing the messy argument and noticed yet another fireball ready in her hand. She was throwing death glares at a tall long haired blonde man holding in his hand a fork with a small insignificant sausage on its prongs.

"I didn't take this from your plate, Lina! It's from mine!" He yelled at her. 

"But who's paying for this meal?" Lina snarled.

"Ameria!" he pointed to a young lady sitting next to a man in shamanist's outfit, all the while muttering something about her daddy going to kill her. Vaneral looked curiously at the beige-garbed man with his face covered with a hood and mask.

"Exactly!" Lina gave a feral grin, "AND, since both of us are women, everything from here to here," she drew her hand over the entire table, "belongs to me! Er, us, eheh." She walked over to him smugly. 

"Wha…?" He said, utterly confused at the bewildering logic, as she snagged the fork from his hand. 

Vaneral barked out a laugh, truly liking this strange group. She found her targets, but she wondered if she even had to try to get them angry…

"Lina," the masked man said sternly to the red-head, "Will you stop and explain what you want to do?"

"Oh, lighten up Zel," Lina laughed, "We have all day, and while we're here, I want to eat."

"That's all you do," He muttered, "Well, I can't stand this. I'm going to the libraries to check the magic tomes." He got up a turned to the young girl in white, "Coming Ameria?" 

"Sure, Zelgadis-san!" She smiled and got up and walked up to him. 

He nodded, "See ya, Lina." He and Ameria walked out.

"Man, he needs to lighten up and enjoy life…" Lina shook her head and sighed, "Waiter!" 

A harassed-looking man drug his way to her table and muttered, "What would it be, Miss?"

Vaneral gasped aloud when Lina said simply, as if it was nothing much, "Everything. Triple portions."

Gourry walked up and added, "Make that six portions." He grinned as Lina nodded.

"Okay…all of it…" the waiter rubbed his forehead and wrote their order down. As he walked away, Vaneral walked to their table. 

"Who are you?" Lina asked. Gourry looked up, curious.

"Vaneral Chisuko, bard extraordinaire," Vaneral made a sweeping bow, pulling off her huge hat with a strange smile, "And you, I presume are Lina Inverse, and Gourry Gabriev." She looked up.

"Yeah. You're a bard, eh? What tales do you know?"  Lina asked all the while looking towards the kitchen, waiting for her meal impatiently.

Vaneral shook her head, "None I'm wanting to tell now," She smiled knowingly, "Though many tales do I know of Lina Inverse the Dramatta." She winked.

"Oh-ho, really?" Lina smiled viciously, "Less of the Dramatta, bard."

Gourry looked at them, somewhat curious.

***

Someway or the other, the conversation between Lina and Vaneral dwindled down into a heated game of dice. Gourry was dead asleep.

"AAAAAAGHHH!" Lina screeched at Vaneral, "How the HELL are you doing that?!" 

Vaneral looked at her unperturbed, "What?"

If glares could kill…Vaneral would be nothing but ash (which is very likely in the case that Lina specializes in fire magic…). Lina yelled irately, "Winning all the FRICKIN' time!" 

Vaneral grinned sardonically, "Don't you humans believe in luck?"

Lina growled, "Not when a person happens to be this lucky, Bard."

"You think I'm cheating?" Vaneral cocked an eyebrow curiously, "Me? Do I look like I cheat??" All the while thinking, _Boy, isn't that what Zakainel said?_

Lina answered with a skeptic smirk.

Vaneral returned with a confident smirk, "Hey, hey. I know my trade. I don't lower myself to a that level by loading dice!"

Lina raised her own bright red eyebrow and muttered dangerously, "My woman's intuition says you're lying."

Vaneral smacked the table in glee, "Oh, ho! Your woman's intuition is it?" She laughed and muttered quietly to herself, "My own says to quit while I'm ahead!"

"What was THAT Bard?" Lina growled and thought, _Why do I feel like I'm talking to Xelloss again??_

Vaneral jumped back, but quickly regained her composure thinking, _Gods, I forgot she knew Xelloss! Damn! Why do I do this to myself?!_ She sighed and said, "Nothing important, Dramatta."

"Call me Dramatta again and you may end up as a crater Bard."

"Quit calling me Bard, _Dramatta," Vaneral just smiled nastily, "Or I just may end up with a purse not of my own."_

"Was that a threat?"

"As much as yours was."

"Uh huh."

"Yep."

"Oi…"

"Hai…"

***

"Oh, this is interesting…" Ameria said quietly as she flipped the pages of a large book, "Zelgadis-san! Look here!"

Zelgadis looked up from his own reading at her call and walked up to her, "Yes?" The book was titled _Legendary Curses and Cures and depicted a tall purple-haired man in priestly robes of red. Zelgadis gasped and turned to the page Ameria was on. _

"I know. Doesn't he look like the Red Priest?" Ameria asked.

Zelgadis just nodded, in slight shock. As he scanned through the page he said, "This is it…"

Ameria's midnight blue eye lit up in excitement, "Your cure?"

"Sort of," he replied, "It tells of a place where I could find it though." He read from the pages, "Where trees are cities and cities ruins, the Library of Sages stays hidden in stony alcove. Find cures and curses, spells and enchantments, tales and treasures, and blank pages."

"This is it, Zelgadis-san!" Ameria cried out happily. 

"Yeah, it does seem like it…" Zelgadis smiled.

Nearby another elf, this with short reddish-brown hair, sat looking through the record log of the city in frustration, "Walker, Mindy…Waland, Miranda…Wingblade, Axptera…Hey, I know her…" He shook his head rubbing his eyes, "Damn..." He looked on, flipping through the pages muttering, "Windburn…Windburn, Phobos, come on…" 

Zelgadis and Ameria jumped as he slammed the book in anger and threw it across the room, narrowly missing Zel's head.

"What the hell was that for?!" Zelgadis yelled at him.

"Shh!" The librarian hissed, to which Zel promptly ignored.

The elven man looked up, taken aback at the yell. He saw Zel and Ame, or as he interpreted, a chimeric human and a young girl, glaring at him. He sighed, apologetic, "I'm sorry. I was looking for something and couldn't find it."

Zel relaxed, a little understanding. He had been looking for his cure and knew how it felt when he had no leads. He asked, "What are you looking for?"

The elf looked at him in mild surprise, "Why do you ask?"

Zel shrugged, "It's not my business."

He stood quiet for a bit and then spoke up, "Have you seen an elven woman about five foot seven, with silver hair and green eyes? Her name is Phobos."

Ameria shook her head, "I'm sorry sir. We haven't seen her. Maybe you could ask that elf in the tavern?" She looked at Zelgadis.

"Yeah, I remember an elf standing there watching Lina destroy the place…all the while laughing wasn't she…" He agreed.

"Laughing…?" The elf said suspiciously and narrowed his eyes, "Gods forbid she is who I think she is. Not to mention she wouldn't know anything about her whereabouts…" He closed his eyes and sighed, "I guess I should check this out. Thanks." He opened his eyes suddenly as if remembering something, "By the way, my name is Destiny Blueflame." He offered his hand to Zel and Ameria.

"Zelgadis Greywers," Zel took it along with Ameria.

"Ameria Wil Tesla Seiruun," Ameria said.

"Pleasure to meet you, my friend." Destiny grinned softly, "Where is this Tavern? There's eight of them in this place."

Zelgadis grabbed his book and said, "Come on." 

***

"Yeah, Seiruun is a nice place. Hmm…" Vaneral paused, "I thought Minniko was crazy, but Seiruun beats her. Or at least some of the people. Decent they are, but…do they like Justice and peace, or what?"

Lina shrugged, "Doesn't bother me too much. Ameria is crazy about it, but you get used to it after a while."

"Hey, hey! I support justice as much as the other, but peace bugs me." Vaneral said, "I grew up in a place where dueling was constant and watching dangerous magical experiments were entertainment. Nothing was peaceful. I like it that way." Her eyes flashed gold as the sun hit them. It was getting late.   
  


"Ah, I guess I understand that." Lina stuffed a slice of meat into her mouth, "Ah whood doh." She swallowed, "I would know, I mean."

"Yeah, you would," Vaneral said.

Lina pulled a wry face, "WAITER!" She screamed and spat the second piece of meat out of her mouth, "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?! DRADORA SURPRISE?!" The waiter ran up and tried to explain the situation.

Gourry jumped up at the sound of the word Dradora, "Don't say that again! Ugh!"

Lina gasped, whether by not really believing that he remembered that particular incident or that he was awake, no one knows, "Gourry?! You remembered that?" She just stood bug-eyed at him, "Oi."

"Who couldn't remember that?" He cried out, "I have bad memory, but not that bad!"

"Wanna bet?" Lina muttered.

"Plus, we nearly died by that meal!"

Vaneral sat glancing at the two with slight surprise, "How, was it poisoned?"

Lina pulled a disgusted grimace, "Worse. It was made with a fresh whole Dradora, curse of the outer world. Not tasty, not even close." She looked back at the waiter, "WELL?! GET ME TWENTY NEW PORTIONS! Not like this one, or there will be HELL to pay!" The waiter ran to the kitchens.

"Hua. Sorta like Zak's cooking. Hmm…" Vaneral pondered. 

"Well, well, well…" An annoying, and horribly familiar voice reached Lina's ears. The ever amused, ever obnoxious, the ever irritating purple-haired mysterious trickster priest emerged behind the sorceress, "Aren't you always the negotiator." He laughed.

Before Lina could retort, Vaneral growled, "Why, by the nine hells, are you here Xelloss?" 

Lina's eye flickered at her in surprise, "You know Xelloss?"

"Yeah," Xelloss smiled, his eyes closed as always, and he leaned on Lina shoulder, "She and I go waaaay back, don't we Vaneral?"

"Go away." She turned away from him, "Go to your Dragon Priestess." She muttered venomously.

"GET OFF XELLOSS!" Lina yelled into his ear, throwing him a bit off balance. 

"Yare, yare!" He laughed, "Perhaps I came at the wrong time!" He stepped back, but still stayed uncomfortably close to her.

"Xelloss?!" the door opened with a jerk and Zelgadis stormed in, "What the hell are you doing here?!" Ameria and Destiny ran in with him, Ameria just as surprised as Zelgadis.

"Hey Zelgadis! Ameria!" Gourry waved at them, "Where were ya?"

"Vaneral?" Destiny gasped, then frowned and pulled out his sword, "Why, by the Gods are you here?"

"Destiny?!" Vaneral fell off her chair, "No way! When did you get here?!" She whipped out her own sword and pointed it to him.

Xelloss turned away grinning inanely, "Well, isn't this a meeting of friends." He started laughing as the tension rose to extreme levels.

***

Author's Note

Well, this is end Chapter one. To clear things up, Vaneral and Destiny have known each other for a while, and practically…hate each other. Xelloss is here on a mission, he most likely won't explain fully, or at all. So we can expect a pile of Xelloss ash to appear quite soon. Vaneral and Xelloss know each other from a long time ago, and it's hard for me to explain how. Actually, I just _won't until later._

Well, that's the end of my little ramble.

Ja Ne! ~VCBSSTE

Next Chapter?


	2. What! A History Lesson!

Chapter Two: What? A History Lesson!

**Recap.**

Lina: Lina Inverse here! Yeah that's me there. We met this strange elf named Vaneral Chisuko earlier, and Ceihied kill me if she didn't cheat to win that game of dice! It turns out while Zelgadis and Ameria went to their libraries, they met an elf called Destiny who obviously knows this Vaneral. Xelloss came and obviously Vaneral knows him too. Ohh!! Xelloss!! Why on earth are you here?! *sigh* Why are all the weirdoes attracted to meeee?? Am I a weirdo magnet?! *whines* Life is so sucky right now. *pauses then yells* GOURRY!! PAY ATTENTION!! 

Gourry: *wakes up* Whaa…?

Lina: Jellyfish!! Anyway, all of us are back in this Tavern and I HAVEN'T FINISHED MY LUNCH!! Dammit! Gods, I hope I don't get involved in something big…

**End Recap.**

 Lina grabbed out and pulled Xelloss's face down to her level and growled, "What is it _this_ time?" 

"Why Lina, why do you always suspect me of some wrong?" Xelloss smiled in mock helplessness.

"Because you always come when your Mistress tells you to," Lina's eyes flashed angrily, "And that usually means the monster race is involved and I get stuck in a battle to save the world—which by the way I don't really want to because I'M ON _VACATION!!!" She shrieked into his face and pushed him back._

Xelloss staggered back, a dazed smile plastered on his face, "Yare yare…"

***

Meanwhile on the other side of the Tavern, Destiny muttered, "I already had the feeling you'd be here."

"Ohhh…?" Vaneral raised an eyebrow, "My reputation precedes me." 

"Oh, please, you know better than that." Destiny rolled his eyes and swung his sword lazily to the side, "Tell me, why have you come to the human's land?"

"Ahh, you know, this and that. Mostly for the hell of it." She shrugged smiling confidently, and closed her eyes, "You know the procedure."

"Yeah. Now for the rematch I talked to you about a few years ago." 

"Why not?" Vaneral said disdainfully, "As if I need to be reminded of that accursed day." She looked at her blade as if wondering what to do with it, "Well, what number is this one? Fifteenth? Seventeenth?"

Destiny narrowed his eyes, a little angrily, and lashed out with his sword, "Matters not!" he yelled and stabbed forward.

Vaneral jumped forward and met her blade with his own, growling, "I hope you're enjoying this battle Aerymis!" she growled and made her move to attack.

Destiny swung his sword to the side, aiming at her side, but she pulled her own blade in time to block it. She slid her sword across his and brought it up towards his neck. He merely ducked, jumped back, and sliced his blade to an open in her defense. Vaneral grinned fiercely and made a rolling dive to behind him. She pulled her cape off so it wouldn't get in the way. 

***

Lina rubbed her forehead in frustration as Zelgadis stomped over to a nearby table and sat down. Ameria looked between Lina and Xelloss helplessly and sat next to Zelgadis. 

Lina slammed her hand on a table, "Xelloss." She sighed giving a stiff laugh, "You haven't visited us since Dark Star, and the times you did before were due to the fact that Zellas told you to. So tell me." Her eyes flashed a dark and dire red, you know, the type that you wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley, and she growled dangerously, "What the HELL are you DOING here?!" She stood up and walked over to the Trickster Priest and stuck her face in his, "And don't you even DARE tell me it's a secret or you can't tell me, and don't tell me any half truths!!" 

A large sweatdrop appeared over Xelloss's head, and he smiled helplessly, "Lina. Wouldn't you believe that I'm here on my own will?"

"No."

A larger sweatdrop joined the first, and he turned away scratching eyebrow, "As always, the notorious Lina Inverse is unbending." He sighed with a large smile and said, "Okay then. First step three paces back."

"What? AAAHH!!" Lina screeched as a flying blade went soaring toward her head of which she ducked, "What the fricken' hell?!" She turned over to where Destiny and Vaneral were fighting. Vaneral had her foot up against Destiny's hand, hers and his weaponless. 

Lina sweat-dropped and sighed in annoyance. Gourry looked at the waiter who was bringing them—er, his meal considering Lina was distracted…um, yeah—and dug in. Zelgadis just sipped at his cup and Ameria was looking at all of them worriedly. Xelloss smiled his typical genki and annoying smile. 

Vaneral snapped at them, "Well?! What the heck are you looking at?!" She snapped her head back to look at Destiny, "…" She glared at him to which he snorted. She made a mad dash for her own blade on the ground and sped back up with it towards his head and met his gauntlet. He kicked one leg at her face and she dodged as well as she could. She punched out and swung at his legs with her sword. She grimaced in frustration as he simply dodged.

Lina's eyebrow twitched for a second and stomped over to a table, picked it up, ("Lina! MY food…! Noooooo!!") and stomped over to the two elves and hit them over the head with it, "WILL YOU QUIT IT?!"

"What tha…?"  Vaneral rubbed her head in pain and grumbled, "Since when do people actually start interrupting a friendly banter?" She fell back, struck by a chair Destiny threw. She got up yelling irately, "DO I LOOK LIKE I HAVE 'HIT ME' WRITTEN ON MY FOREHEAD?!"

"No. Your mere appearance causes that instinctively." He said sarcastically.

"Shut up, you." Vaneral twitched and threw a little pebble from the ground at him. 

"SHUT UP!!!" Lina screamed at them, tired and frustrated and utterly hungry, "I'm trying to get GENKI boy over there to explain things to ME, so be QUIET!!" she stood there panting for a few seconds.

"You wanna know why he's here?" Vaneral looked at her curiously, "Isn't it obvious?"

Lina looked at her curiously, "What do you mean?"

Vaneral closed her eyes and smiled, "Zellas sent him…"

"Well, duh!" Lina growled, "That's always the reason!"

"…to find the traitor to the Mazoku Race, Trian of the Oblivion Knights." Vaneral continued regardless of Lina's rambling, "Trian goddess of the Drow, Crimsae, and enemy of the Elves, Deimon, Dragons, soon to be humans, and now even her own race—the Mazoku."

"Who…?" Lina face faulted.

"One of the six Mazoku Dark Lords, now four." Vaneral said simply.

"Six? Let's try _five, bard. There were only __five Dark Demon Lords."_

"I didn't think the humans would know about Trian." Vaneral sighed, "She is mainly an Elven god/demon thing. Just as there are six demon lords, there are five Elemental Gods, to which the elven one, the goddess of lightning, exists under the name Asia*. 

Lina nodded skeptically, "Uh…huh…"

"Yep!" Vaneral said confidently as everyone else sweat-dropped. "Anyway," she continued, "She was unknown to you because the Mazoku had attempted to keep all betrayals a secret. Sort of like Gaav except Trian dropped from Shab—" She faltered, but recovered quickly, "Lord Shabranigdo supporters before humans were created."

"So," Zelgadis spoke up, "Are you trying to tell us that the Mazoku tried to cover up this like it was an embarrassment or something?"

"Yeah…in a way…yep, exactly!" 

He nodded and Ameria said, "Why do you say the only the 'humans wouldn't know of Trian?'" 

"Long ago, the elven race battled the Dark elves and Crimsae and discovered that they were proud worshippers of Trian. To them she was a goddess." Vaneral stated, "When the elves found out, the Mazoku tried to exterminate the ones near the humans. That's what nearly happened to Mipross Island by the work of Joyrock." She shot a look at Lina and said, "You know all about Joyrock, don't you?" 

"…Isn't that what Grandpa was talking about…?" Gourry muttered incoherently, "Hmm…"

"Why do you say _that, bard?" Lina stuttered._

"Ah, you know," Vaneral smiled darkly, "Anyway that is why Xelloss is here."

"Then why did you ask Xelloss why he was here?" Gourry asked innocently.

"Um, I meant wihle I was here, why did he have to be?"

"Oh," Gourry said thoughtfully, "Makes sense."

"And all of this is true." Lina raised an eyebrow skeptically, "Usually bards exaggerate and add their own material into it, and a lot of it is half truths."

"No, all of it's completely true," Vaneral said smiling nervously.

"Then how do you know?" Zelgadis asked suspiciously, "You obviously know Xelloss. Surely you didn't get this information from _him_." 

"Of course not!" Vaneral smiled sheepishly.

"Then how?"

"Well…I…ahaha…" Van sputtered, "Well…I'm a BARD! I have my resources!" She looked at Xelloss and said, "Ask him if the info is true!"

All eye focused on the purple-haired trickster priest, and Xelloss merely smiled, "It's all true, yes…" He trailed off muttering something under his breath. 

"Uh…huh…right." Lina gave a look that said _you better tell me what you said after this or risk bodily harm_.

Vaneral smiled, "Yep—OWWW!!" Vaneral fell to the ground as another chair hit her smack on the face, "WHAT IS _WRONG_ WITH YOU AERYMIS?!"

"You talk too much," Destiny growled and muttered, "And _don't _call me Aerymis."

"What?! And that is a good reason to hit me with a chair?!"

"Sounds right to me." Destiny said, "Plus you left some stuff out."

"Like what?"

"Why there are so few of our kind around here to all the way to Seiruun."

"Oh, that." Vaneral shrugged, "That I'll tell later."

Lina digested all of this info and then said, "Why would Xelloss come here to _me about a demonic traitor when I didn't even know one existed?"_

Vaneral sputtered a reply, but was interrupted by Xelloss, "Ah, would you care to explain Vaneral? Since you are so good at illusory information, that is."

"Sh*t." Vaneral smacked her head rubbing her forehead, "Damn. Trian knows me. Very well in fact." She grinned awkwardly, "Let's leave it at that, shall we?"

"Whatever."

"Yeah…" Vaneral's golden orbs darkened for a moment, but returned brightly, "Well, it's time for me to take my leave." She turned towards the tavern door.

"Aah ah, chotto matte!" Lina panicked.

"What?" Vaneral turned to her.

Lina smiled, "Can you explain one thing, before you go?" 

"Sure, what?" 

"How _do you know Xelloss?" She asked._

Vaneral wondered why this question didn't come earlier, but decided it must have been something the web-mistress just now decided to add in for lack of anything better, and answered, "He saved my life, you know, similar to how he did with Martina. I was heading to Seiruun, and I was attacked by some demons. I couldn't fight them very well, 'cause I was getting over a illness. I still find it strange _he_ saved me, for he's a demon himself."

Lina looked at her and blinked. Everyone else sweat-dropped.

_A little untruthful, are you Vaneral-san? _Xelloss said to her mentally, looking at her pointedly with his eyes opened, _That's_ a little out of character for you, isn't it?__

Vaneral twitched, but showed no sign she was communicating with him, _I'm a thief. It's what I do. Just deal with it Trickster Priest. _

He closed his eyes again smiling, _I would expect that of you…_

_Shut up._

_Haha__…_

Lina shrugged, uncaring about it now, "Okay." She looked at her strangely, "Though I get the feeling you aren't being entirely truthful…"

Vaneral grinned sarcastically, "What? Your woman's intuition speaking again?"

Lina shrugged again, "Perhaps." She gave a nonchalant smirk, "I trust it enough."

Vaneral smiled and offered, "How 'bout I go with you to prove my innocence, eh?"

Lina looked at her, eyebrows raised, for a few seconds and then replied with a slight grin, "Sure, why not?" Everyone looked at her surprised. 

Ameria walked up to her and whispered, "What are you doing?"

Lina grinned confidently and replied quietly, so as no one else to hear, "Hey, don't worry. If she wants to travel with us," Lina paused with a large and greedy grin on her face, "she has to pay for all of our meals! Haha!"

"Miss Lina! That's…that's so EVIL!" She whispered loudly, "How can you do that to an innocent traveler?!"

"Innocent?" Lina raised an eyebrow, "PUHlease. Do you know how much money she gambled off me? This will help me get back at her. Plus," She added in a singsong voice, "I won't be charging from the Seiruun name for a while."

Ameria looked thoughtful muttering, "That's true…" Then she seemed to snap and looked abash at her thoughts, "Miss Lina! How can you let me act so selfish! Don't push your bills on her!"

Lina glared at her, "You eat too."

"That's not the point!"

Lina ignored that last statement and said to Vaneral, "However, if you want to travel with us, you have to pay for all of our meals." She winked with her fingers in the "victory" sign. 

Vaneral blinked and simply said, "Okay."

Ameria fell to the floor in shock.

Vaneral smiled, and added, "Also, I could probably help your chimera friend."

Destiny piped up, "Yeah, she could, especially if she went to her cousin." He then added, "I might as well go with you too. Maybe Phobos will turn up in the roads that follow." He looked at Gourry and said, "Didn't you own the Sword of Light?"

Gourry looked sheepish and said, "I gave it away to Dog Star from the whatchamacallit…"

"Gourry! It was Sirius from the Over World! Jellyfish-brain!!" She threw a piece of debris at him.

Destiny nodded and said, "Is that a normal sword?" He tilted his head.

Gourry sighed nodding.

Destiny grinned saying, "I'll come with you then. There's a place I want to take you to. It's infamous for its magical weapons. There I could ask Xan to test you." He paused, "I think you'd pass easily if you're as good as I've heard."

"Hey that's great," Lina said, tapping her fingers on his shoulder with a simple grin, "How 'bout we get going hmm?" She looked at Vaneral.

Vaneral shrugged, "Why not?"

Nodding, Lina added, "Where would we be going anyway to find this sword and cure?"

Vaneral thought for a second and said, "To the east, north, east, north, east, east, astral plane, north, Caldemelln, and finally Deimietré." Vaneral smiled sweetly.

Lina sweat-dropped and shook her head slowly, saying, "Astral plane?"

Vaneral grinned, "Yep! Just you wait." She laughed. 

Lina narrowed her eyes, but said, "Fine. Lead the way Vaneral no haiyuu."

Xelloss turned his head to Vaneral and said to her, _They'll__ come after you, of course._

Vaneral turned slightly red, but answered, _I know, but maybe with this group…I'll live. _

Xelloss grinned a feral smile, _Using__ them…that is so like you._

Vaneral rolled her eyes, _Like__ you don't. Whether or not I use them they know too much about Trian. She'd go after them after she'd destroy me if I didn't. Perhaps with their newly acquired information about her, they'll survive._

Xelloss merely smiled to show he heard her and started walking out of the tavern.

***

Author's Note

Finally, chapter two is done. Now I get to write about the mishaps on their journey. ___ Heheh…

Let's just say that some way or the other, Lina will meet Luna, a Jersak will be introduced. AKA, chaos.

Ja ne! ~VCBSSTE


End file.
